CUPERTINO, US: Apple has announced it has sold three million of its new iPad, since its launch on Friday, March 16. The new iPad features a new Retina display, Apple's new A5X chip with quad-core graphics, a 5 megapixel iSight camera with advanced optics for capturing photos and 1080p HD video, and the same all-day 10 hour battery life*.

NEW YORK, US: Global consumer confidence increased one index point last quarter to 89, while Europe led confidence declines in 24 of the region's 27 measured markets, according to fourth quarter 2011 global consumer confidence findings from Nielsen, a leading global provider of information and insights into what consumers watch and buy.

LONDON, UK: comScore, Inc, a leader in measuring the digital world, has released an overview of internet usage in Europe, showing 376.6 million unique visitors went online in October 2011 for an average of 27.8 hours per person.

NUREMBERG, GERMANY: The overall market for technical consumer goods in Western Europe recorded a sales volume of €44.4bn in the third quarter of 2011. This is a decrease of 4.1% compared to last year's figures. The individual countries are developing very differently. These are the findings of GfK TEMAX Western Europe.

NEW YORK, US: Global online consumer confidence fell for the seventh consecutive quarter as confidence in 31 of 56 global markets measured declined, according to from Nielsen, a leading global provider of insights and analytics into what consumers watch and buy.

NUREMBERG, GERMANY: The overall market for Technical Consumer Goods (TCG) in Western Europe recorded a sales volume of €41.8 billion* in the second quarter of 2011. This is a decrease of 5.1% compared to last year's figures.

LONDON, UK: comScore, Inc, a leader in measuring the digital world, has released results from a study of online shopping in Europe. In January 2011, 270.6 million unique visitors in Europe visited sites in the retail category, representing a market penetration of 74.5% of Internet users, up 8.5 percentage points versus last year.

NEW YORK, US: media control GfK International, a leader in international media and entertainment tracking servicing the global entertainment industry, has announced the release of its 2010 Year End Home Video Retail Sales Report.

NUREMBERG, GERMANY: At a press conference held this week in Nuremberg, GfK presented a review of private consumption in 2010 and an outlook for 2011. As forecast by GfK, private consumption rose last year by 0.5%. For 2011, the market researchers are expecting private household expenditure to increase by a significant 1.5% and therefore make a strong contribution to the economic upturn.

LONDON, UK: Despite huge growth in China, the market for luxury retail in Europe will remain the most lucrative in the world and will grow by nearly US$60 billion (about R431 billion) to be worth US$175 billion (about R1257 billion) by 2015 finds Verdict, one of the Datamonitor group of companies.

LONDON, UK: More than 7% of all phones bought during 2010 in Europe were purchased online according to the latest research from GfK Retail and Technology. This represents a growth in excess of 10% over the same period (Jan-Oct) in 2009.

NEW YORK, US: Consumer confidence fell in 25 out of 52 countries in Q4 2010 as hope for a global economic recovery evaporated at the end of last year, according to the latest edition of the Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Index, which tracks consumer confidence, major concerns and spending intentions among online consumers.

NEW YORK, US: After an upbeat start to the year with two consecutive quarters of increases in optimism, global consumer confidence fell three points in September to an Index of 90 as consumers' hopes for a full economic recovery this year fades in most parts of the world, according to the latest edition of the Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Index.